It’s rare to see young women or girls playing organized sports in rural Nicaragua because they have so many responsibilities: taking care of younger siblings, gathering firewood, cooking, and cleaning. And women are restricted by machismo, and the idea that sports are for men. But a small soccer league is giving girls new opportunities, both on the field and off.

Twenty-three-year-old Jairisa Sanchez is bucking the odds for women in Nicaragua, which has some of the highest rates of teen pregnancy and violence against women in the Americas. When she’s not working as a graphic designer, Sanchez is a rare graffitera, a female graffiti artist.

Updated

02/20/2015 - 8:15am

China's $50 billion plan for a new Central American canal connecting Atlantic and Pacific may damage the freshwater Lake Nicaragua, changing the environment for those who depend upon it. The plan faces opposition in parts of the country.

Growing up in a secluded village on the Honduran coast, Aurelio Martinez received most of his musical education from his mother. Now, the musician from a minority culture called the Garifuna is going back to those roots on his latest album "Landini," while also fighting for the rights of his people.

The killing of four Americans in El Salvador in 1980 exposed the brutality of US-backed governments in Latin America. But at the time, the fight against communism obscured justice for the victims — even in the eyes of their own government.

Nicaragua is suffering under a terrible drought, which is reducing food stocks and raising food prices. That's made it increasingly difficult for Nicaraguans to have an adequate diet. So government officials are encouraging Nicaraguans to raise and eat lizards. Meanwhile, if you've seen a popup ad recently, the man behind them wants you to know he's sorry. That and more in today's Global Scan.

Over the past year, the US Border Patrol has apprehended tens of thousands of Central American children crossing the US-Mexico border alone. So why are kids from Nicaragua, the region’s poorest country, staying at home?

The widening of the Panama Canal is nearing completion, and could be ready to allow bigger ships to pass through next year. But a European consortium constructing the new locks says it wants more money to finish the job.

Leaf rust is eating away at coffee trees in Central and South America. Hundreds of thousands of people are out of work because of it. Now, an unlikely coalition of American coffee chains, coffee shops and bankers are coming to the rescue.

Updated

02/20/2015 - 8:15am

China's $50 billion plan for a new Central American canal connecting Atlantic and Pacific may damage the freshwater Lake Nicaragua, changing the environment for those who depend upon it. The plan faces opposition in parts of the country.

Over the past year, the US Border Patrol has apprehended tens of thousands of Central American children crossing the US-Mexico border alone. So why are kids from Nicaragua, the region’s poorest country, staying at home?

The killing of four Americans in El Salvador in 1980 exposed the brutality of US-backed governments in Latin America. But at the time, the fight against communism obscured justice for the victims — even in the eyes of their own government.

Leaf rust is eating away at coffee trees in Central and South America. Hundreds of thousands of people are out of work because of it. Now, an unlikely coalition of American coffee chains, coffee shops and bankers are coming to the rescue.

Nicaragua is suffering under a terrible drought, which is reducing food stocks and raising food prices. That's made it increasingly difficult for Nicaraguans to have an adequate diet. So government officials are encouraging Nicaraguans to raise and eat lizards. Meanwhile, if you've seen a popup ad recently, the man behind them wants you to know he's sorry. That and more in today's Global Scan.

Many Central American countries deal with their urban gang problems with fierce crackdowns and harsh prison sentences. Nicaragua is trying a different strategy... one that's brought peace to many gang neighborhoods. Reporter Mary Stucky explains.

Twenty-three-year-old Jairisa Sanchez is bucking the odds for women in Nicaragua, which has some of the highest rates of teen pregnancy and violence against women in the Americas. When she’s not working as a graphic designer, Sanchez is a rare graffitera, a female graffiti artist.

Updated

02/20/2015 - 8:15am

China's $50 billion plan for a new Central American canal connecting Atlantic and Pacific may damage the freshwater Lake Nicaragua, changing the environment for those who depend upon it. The plan faces opposition in parts of the country.

Over the past year, the US Border Patrol has apprehended tens of thousands of Central American children crossing the US-Mexico border alone. So why are kids from Nicaragua, the region’s poorest country, staying at home?

Leaf rust is eating away at coffee trees in Central and South America. Hundreds of thousands of people are out of work because of it. Now, an unlikely coalition of American coffee chains, coffee shops and bankers are coming to the rescue.

It’s rare to see young women or girls playing organized sports in rural Nicaragua because they have so many responsibilities: taking care of younger siblings, gathering firewood, cooking, and cleaning. And women are restricted by machismo, and the idea that sports are for men. But a small soccer league is giving girls new opportunities, both on the field and off.

Growing up in a secluded village on the Honduran coast, Aurelio Martinez received most of his musical education from his mother. Now, the musician from a minority culture called the Garifuna is going back to those roots on his latest album "Landini," while also fighting for the rights of his people.

The widening of the Panama Canal is nearing completion, and could be ready to allow bigger ships to pass through next year. But a European consortium constructing the new locks says it wants more money to finish the job.

Across Central America, large numbers of men are dying from kidney disease. The cause is unknown, but a growing body of evidence suggests that hard manual labor -- especially in the region's sugarcane fields -- is partly to blame.

The killing of four Americans in El Salvador in 1980 exposed the brutality of US-backed governments in Latin America. But at the time, the fight against communism obscured justice for the victims — even in the eyes of their own government.